Coconut Almond Matcha Crunch

Growing up, my mom didn’t allow me to eat: Capri Sun and sugary cereals. So it comes as no surprise I recently became obsessed with a cereal recipe called Cocoa Crunch. It has cocoa, melted chocolate, coconut flakes, and coconut oil. Really, the makings of a dessert but the oats and crispy brown rice cereal gently suggest breakfast. It’s a darker, healthier, more satisfying version of your favorite cocoa cereal growing up. I pass it off as dessert (and not breakfast) to my daughter. Afterall, I am my mother’s daughter.

I loved that Cocoa Crunch so much I created one incorporating a little matcha and white instead of dark chocolate. A little extra caffeine in your morning cereal makes sense, right? But where to buy matcha?

It’s a little known fact that premium green tea made in Japan does not leave Japan. But a startup called Yunomi, is focused on selling Japanese tea from small-scale farms, factories, and specialty blenders. 80 vendors are represented, collectively selling over a thousand products online. The site details the different grades of matcha (there are 6!), the region it’s from, and when the tea is harvested. If you’ve wanted to dig deeper into the world of Japanese tea, Yunomi is a great resource. For this recipe, I used their culinary-grade organic uji matcha.

In a large bowl, toss together the oats, rice cereal, coconut flakes, almonds, matcha, and salt. Set aside.

Melt the coconut oil and white chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. Take off heat and whisk in the syrup. Pour over oat mixture and carefully mix with broad strokes, using a rubber spatula. Continue to gently mix until it is evenly coated (no dry bits, no clumps of syrup mixture). Dump onto your lined baking sheet and spread out into an even, thin layer.

Bake for 35 mins. Remove from oven and toss around a bit while still hot, then set aside to cool completely. Or, if you’d prefer large shards, let cool completely before breaking the pieces apart.

I received free tea from Yunomi, but this is not a sponsored pot. All content, ideas, and words are my own.

9 Comments

Wow! This looks amazing. Just yesterday I was thinking that I wanted to find a good recipe for granola. And with matcha… Couldn’t get any better! I cannot wait to try this. I am another Japan foodie @www.thegreenturnip.com. Jessy